A while ago, I did a knowing your self worth post for side chicks and jump offs and this will be the follow up to that post. No, I have never been a side chick, but I have been in a position before where I was more like the wife in those circumstances.

I happen to be majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Public policy. I should (finally) be getting my degree by next summer. During my time in school, I have learned so many things about business policy, corporations, marketing, economics and accounting that I figure, why not apply that to everyday life. This post is called protecting you brand. Your brand is you. You are a market leader. That means that you are number #1 in whatever you do and maintain your position by delivering results, best customer service, and most important, a quality product. Market leaders are who McDonalds’ and Walmart are. They are recognizable and established brands that people know and most trust. Everyone else are either market challengers and niches. They are the Burger Kings, the Targets and the Trader Joe’s of the world. They are vying to take the spot if you’re not careful. In other words, these can be the groupies, haters, jump offs, friends of friends, that want what you have and what you represent. They can also be your biggest onstacle to building your brand and can come in the form of fears and insecurities.

Building you brand involves careful planning and positioning. Ask yourself who you are and what you want to represent. Are you someone that’s assertive and likes to take charge? Are you more introverted and likes to act behind the scenes? What about your appearance? Do you like to dress sexy and wear revealing clothing? Or are you into a more classic style? Branding is more than what’s on the ouside, but also what kind of value you bring to the table. These are the expectations of what said product(you), can offer to the public or potential suitors. If you have a college degree, certificates, own your own home, own your own car, these can help boost your brand. These let others know that what you bring to the table is something special and it makes you stand out amongst the crowd. It’s what makes McDonald’s #1 because they offer the value meal. It’s what makes Walmart #1 because of their low prices.

In economics, there’s absolute advantage and theres comparative advantage. Absolute advantage means that you can produce a product not only much better than your competition, but you are the only one that can produce that product. No one, has an absolute advantage over anything. There will always be someone that may be prettier than you, smarter than you, or can out-perfrom you in bed. In economic terms, comparative advantage is when 2 countries trade off what they produce the most. Comparative advantage what most people have. It’s about playing to your strengths and less to your weaknesses. Of course, there’s always room for improvement and working on weaknesses can become an asset to your overall brand, but at best, one would just end up mediocre. For example, I hate math and barely pass all of my math courses. I can work on improving my grades, but at best I usually end up with a C+ or if I’m lucky this semester a B-. Meanwhile my strengths are foriegn languages and history and I get A’s everytime. Playing to you strengths sets you up for success and greatness.

Now, of course their are competitors. These are the market challengers and niches that want to take the top spot. They don’t want you to get promoted at your job, they don’t want you to get the guy/girl that you want. A lot of times, these people want to see you fail because let’s face it, being number #1 is a lot better then a #2 or 3 spot. And as far as niches go, they specialize in a certain type of customer. They cater to whatever that customer’s interest lie and market’s to that customer’s specific need. They are not neccessarily interested in being #1, but it would be nice if they were. Trader Joes’ offers healthy and organic fare under their own brand name at a much lower price than Whole Foods. Jump-offs offer (oral) sex and tend to out perform you in bed. That homeboy(girl) that you hang out with all the time only provides a good laugh and has your back but you know he/she is not serious about their own lives and has no intention for improvement(This is when they turn into haters). I usually tend to steer away from people who have nothing going on for them but keep them at a distance. Guilt by association still rings true today and why risk damaging your brand because your homegirl decides she wants to sleep with a bunch of guys. It’s why athletes tend to lose their endorsements because of morality clauses and the fact that brands such as Pepsi, and Nike, have images to uphold.

As I explained earlier, fear and insecurity is your biggest detriment to your brand success. What is keeping you back from fulfilling your dreams? Is it the fear of the unknown or the fear of failure? Life is about taking risks, facing fear in the face of adversity and following your own path to success. The great ones such as Pepsi, Coke, Michael Jordan, and Pres Barack Obama all became successful despite fear. All it took was an idea and a little faith to make it happen. Sometimes were are so worried about the forbidden “I told you so” from others when we do fail a t something that we just don’t try. When building your own brand, failure is part of the process. One can’t have success without failure and learning from it.

Branding YOU involves presenting a clear vision of who you are and what you represent. It’s about building credibility and positioning yourself in a large market where you have to be competitive. Do you want to be Nike or Reebok? Beyonce’ or Rihanna? What does your brand say about you?